Pages 2021-1 FInal.cdr INTRODUCTION The agricultural sector employs th about 4/5 of the female workforce in the co u n t r y, w i t h 4 8 % of In d i a's s e l f- employed farmers being women (Ghosh and Ghosh, 2014). According to the 2011 Census, 42.6% of the total agricultural workforce (which is es�mated at 144.3 million) is women and within a decade, (2001 to 2011), the par�cipa�on of f e m a l e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s h a s increased from 21% to 23% (Press Informa�on Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2016). Over the years, agriculture remains the bas�on of female workforce in India, w i t h e v e n t h e m a l e w o r k f o r c e dependency (about 75 per cent) on agriculture being no�ceably lesser than for females (about 85 per cent). Despite the burgeoning women labor force in agriculture, rural development schemes are not seen to address their requirements and problems (Ghosh and Ghosh, 2014). In post-colonial India, rural development programmes have gained prominence as a tool to balance the upheaval brought a b o u t by t h e i n t ro d u c � o n of n e w technologies; unfortunately, women have been inconsequen�al elements in the 6558 Research Article Journal of Extension Educa�on Vol. 33 No.1, 2021 DOI: h�ps://doi.org/10.26725/JEE.2021.1.33.6558-6565 Women Farmers' Awareness of Government Agricultural Schemes in the North Eastern Region of India Anushree Baruah* and G. Madan Mohan* ABSTRACT th The Indian agricultural sector employs 4/5 of the female workforce in the country, with 48% of self-employed farmers being women. Exis�ng literature portrays a wide informa�on gap separa�ng the woman farmer from basic knowledge with regards to increasing produc�on, efficiency, and income of their farm ac�vi�es. This paper makes an a�empt to study the awareness of women farmers in North Eastern Region (NER) of India about ac�ve agricultural schemes in the country. The findings reveal lack of awareness of governmental agricultural schemes as a lacuna in the agricultural progress of women farmers in the NER. Keywords: Agriculture; Women Farmers; North-eastern India; Agricultural Schemes; Awareness; Government Schemes *Department of Management Studies, School of Management, Pondicherry University, Puducherry - 605 014. Received : 02-06-2021 Accepted: 31-10-2021 implementa�on of such programmes (Duvvury, 1989). In the new age, the process of agriculture has evolved to be more complex in nature and hence the, farmers' access to reliable, �mely, and relevant informa�on has become increasingly important. Exis�ng literature state that there is a wide informa�on gap separa�ng the women farmer from basic knowledge with regards to increase in produc�on, efficiency, and income of their farm ac�vi�es. In such a situa�on, certain regions of India such as the north-eastern region (NER) - comprising the eight states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura, which are no�ceably lagging behind in agricultural produc�on despite a majority of it's rural popula�on (82%) d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y i n v o l v e d i n agriculture and allied ac�vi�es - should be closely scru�nized for their informa�on needs (Roy et al, 2014). A majority of the small-scale agricultural workforce in developing countries is cons�tuted by rural women (Das, 1995). 'If women had the same access to produc�ve resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30 percent. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5–4 percent, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12–17 percent' (FAO, 2011). Produc�vity is o�en low for women farmers as they do not have complete access to extension services and farm inputs (Quisumbing and Pandolfelli, 2010). Also, as majority of the women farmers are not the land owners, they lose out of being a beneficiary of v a r i o u s g o v e r n m e n t p ro g r a m m e s / schemes (Bedi, 2018). There has always been a gap in the flow of knowledge between ICAR ins�tu�ons, SAUs and developmental agencies of the North E a s t e r n s t a t e s . T h e re fo re , s p e c i a l a�en�on needs to be given to train the women farmers engaged in development ac�vi�es. The fact that majority of the economically produc�ve women in the NER depend on agriculture as a means of their livelihood calls for special emphasis t o b e l a i d o n ro l l i n g o u t effe c � ve development strategies. Looking back a few decades, rural development projects for women seem to focus on providing training in conven�onal skills such as sewing, cooking, and cra�s; the absence of interven�ons that could provide k n o w l e d g e a n d a i d of a g r i c u l t u r a l technologies, credit, and extension to w o m e n f a r m e r s , a m o n g o t h e r s , i s n o � c e a b l e ( B u v i n i c e t a l . 1 9 9 0 ) . Interven�ons in such areas have the poten�al to radically enhance women's roles in agriculture. Literature is replete with arguments that the social rate of 6559Women Farmers' Awareness of Government Agricultural Schemes in the North Eastern Region of India return on agricultural development investment can prove to be higher when such investments are specifically targeted at women. In fact, schemes aimed at improving the well-being of the women would not only be beneficial to them but also create posi�ve impacts on upcoming genera�ons in terms of improved child health, nutri�on, and educa�on (Doss, 2018). Recent policy interven�ons assure that the state governments have been a s k e d t o e a r m a r k 3 0 % o f c a s h flow/agricultural scheme expenditures for the benefit of women farmers (Press Informa�on Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2 0 1 6 ) - M i s s i o n f o r I n t e g r a t e d Development of Hor�culture, Na�onal Food Security Mission, Na�onal Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, Sub-Mission for Seed & Plan�ng Material, Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechaniza�on, to name a fe w. T h e re a re s c h e m e s l a u n c h e d especially for the benefit of the women f a r m e r s , n a m e l y M a h i l a K i s a n Sashak�karan Pariyojana (MKSP). More recently, a number of mobile apps offering agricultural services have also been launched. As far as literature is concerned, there are a wide variety of agricultural schemes from which women farmers can greatly benefit, but the accessibility issues and informa�on gaps are s�ll a reality and stand as an obstacle to the progress of this segment of the popula�on. Considering these aspects, there is a pressing need to assess the informa�on needs of women farmers in the country as well as assess their awareness of the government schemes which have special provisions for women. This paper makes an a�empt to study the awareness of women farmers in the NER India with respect to the ac�ve agricultural schemes in the country with the following objec�ves a) To a s c e r t a i n t h e p e r s o n a l characteris�cs of the women farmers; b) To a s s e s s t h e a w a r e n e s s o f governmental schemes among women farmers; c) To study the opinion of the woman f a r m e r s t o w a r d s t r a i n i n g programmes. METHODOLOGY The study was carried out among women farmers across 8 states of NER of India, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The sample size was 121. The respondents were iden�fied through the extension workers of the respec�ve states and chosen using the random sampling method. Data were collected through informal interviews at training programmes and by administering a p re - t e s t e d s t r u c t u re d i n t e r v i e w 6560 Journal of Extension Educa�on schedule to the women farmers. A 3-point Likert scale with the op�ons Yes (1); No (2); Maybe (3) was used to study the awareness of governmental schemes a m o n g w o m e n f a r m e r s . T h e d a t a collected were analyzed using sta�s�cal tests such as frequency and percentage on Sta�s�cal Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A ) Pe r s o n a l C h a ra c te r i s � c s o f t h e Respondents /Women Farmers The majority of respondents were in the age category of 31-50. 67 of the women farmers belonged to the tribal community while 54 hailed from non- tribal communi�es. A majority of the f a r m e r s ( 5 5 ) h a d p r i m a r y s c h o o l educa�on, the second largest frac�on (45) had secondary school educa�on, and 18 and 3 of the popula�on had higher educa�on and were illiterate respec�vely. Th i s i m p l i e s t h a t ove r h a l f of t h e popula�on of among the women farmers had formal educa�on and stand to benefit from extension contact and training programmes, notwithstanding the fact that even the uneducated farmers can benefit from awareness programmes on government schemes. A bulk of the respondents had farming experience ranging in between 11-20 years, which means that the popula�on is aware of the agricultural scenario before and a�er the advent of agricultural schemes and thus, can weigh the benefits of adop�on of the same. Majority of the interviewed were small farmers (64), followed by medium (39), large (14) and marginal (5) farmers' c a t e g o r y re s p e c � v e l y a s p e r l a n d ownership pa�ern. The annual family income was 51000-100000 for 60% of the surveyed popula�on, and of the remaining 14% fell in the 0-50000 income category and 26% fell in the 100000 and above income category. 80% of the s u r v e y e d p o p u l a � o n h a d n e v e r par�cipated in any training programme and only 20% of the popula�on had p a r � c i p at e d i n 1 o r m o re t ra i n i n g programmes. As far as the extension exposure was concerned, majority of the respondents (80%) reported that they had Low Contact with extension (up to 17 days), 13% reported Medium Contact (18- 34 days), and only 07% reported High Contact (above 34 days). This clearly r e fl e c t s t h e a c c e s s i b i l i t y a n d communica�on gap between extension and women farmers. B) Awareness of Governmental Schemes among Women Farmers Table 1 highlights the awareness of governmental schemes among the surveyed farmer popula�on. The schemes considered for the survey are Mission for Integrated Development of Hor�culture, Na�onal Food Security Mission, Na�onal 6561Women Farmers' Awareness of Government Agricultural Schemes in the North Eastern Region of India Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, Sub- Mission for Seed & Plan�ng Material, Sub- Mission on Agricultural Mechaniza�on, and Mahila Kisan Sashak�karan Pariyojana (MKSP). The respondents have been asked to respond with regards to 3 aspects n a m e l y , A w a r e n e s s ( o f s c h e m e ) , Familiarity (for availing scheme), and Interest (towards availing scheme). A small s e g m e n t o f t h e p o p u l a � o n s h o w s awareness and an even smaller segment shows familiarity of the currently available government agricultural schemes and mobile agri apps. In case of the Mission for Integrated Development of Hor�culture, 13 showed awareness of the scheme, 4 showed familiarity and 53 showed an interest in the scheme. In case of the Na�onal Food Security Mission, 14 showed awareness of the scheme, 5 showed familiarity and 53 showed an interest in the scheme. In case of the N a � o n a l M i s s i o n o n S u s t a i n a b l e Agriculture, 17 showed awareness of the scheme, 2 showed familiarity and 51 showed an interest in the scheme. In case of the Sub-Mission for Seed and Plan�ng Material, 13 showed awareness of the scheme, 3 showed familiarity and 46 showed an interest in the scheme. In case of the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechaniza�on, 16 showed awareness of the scheme, 3 showed familiarity and 42 showed an interest in the scheme. In case o f t h e M a h i l a K i s a n S a s h a k � k a r a n Pariyojana (MKSP), 14 showed awareness of the scheme, 4 showed familiarity and 52 showed an interest in the scheme. In case of the Mobile Agri Apps, 10 showed awareness of the scheme, 5 showed familiarity and 55 showed an interest in the scheme. The exis�ng scenario suggests a lack of awareness of exis�ng government schemes among the women farmers and thereby highlights an urgent need to c r e a t e a w a r e n e s s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l informa�on programmes available/ accessible through training programmes/ extension contact. As for the interest to avail such schemes, a majority of the women farmers show eagerness to avail such schemes and thus, stand to benefit from any training programmes/extension contact in this regard. 6562 Journal of Extension Educa�on 6563 Table 1: Awareness of Governmental Schemes Among Women Farmers c) Opinion of the Women farmers towards Training Programmes Table 2 highlights the opinion of w o m e n f a r m e r s t o w a r d s t r a i n i n g programmes. They have been surveyed on three aspects – current availability, need for training programmes/extension contact, and interest in training programs/extension c o n t a c t . T h e r e s u l t s s h o w t h a t a n i n s u ffi c i e n t n u m b e r o f t r a i n i n g programmes/workshops remains a lacuna in the flow of communica�on between the organiza�ons and women farmers. A majority of the women farmers feel that regular training programmes/workshops are to be conducted for the dissemina�on of knowledge regarding agricultural ac�vi�es and schemes. Addi�onally, a majority of respondents also demonstrate interest in a�ending such training programmes/ workshops, if made accessible to them. Women Farmers' Awareness of Government Agricultural Schemes in the North Eastern Region of India 6564 Table 2: Opinion of the Women farmers towards Training Programmes Yes (% of sample popula�on) No (% of sample popula�on) Maybe (% of sample popula�on) Workshops/orienta�on programmes are regularly arranged by agricultural service organiza�ons/ agricultural universi�es and research ins�tu�ons/ PRIs/NGOs /banks to provide relevant current informa�on 12 58 30 There is a need for arrangement of workshops/ orienta�on programmes for creating awareness among women farmers 78 09 13 I am interested in a�ending such workshops/orienta�on programmes to gain knowledge of agricultural ac�vi�es and schemes 66 27 07 CONCLUSION There is an increased need for extension contact with women farmers in the current day agricultural scenario in developing countries such as India. This study found that women farmers in the NER have limited/restricted access to training programmes/extension contact, implied from their lack of knowledge about and familiarity with na�onwide agricultural schemes. Keeping in mind the growing popularity and penetra�on of mobile phones and the short supply of manpower in government agricultural organiza�ons, the study suggests that ICT awareness and training programmes if built into the extension delivery packages could help effec�vely in addressing the e x i s � n g l i m i t a � o n s o f k n o w l e d g e dissemina�on among women farmers. REFERENCES Bedi, Bani. (2018, June 30) The Centre Is B a re l y S e r i o u s A b o u t Re c o g n i z i n g Women as Farmers. The Wire. Retrieved f ro m h � p s : // t h e w i re . i n / w o m e n / women-farmers-agriculture-rights Journal of Extension Educa�on Buvinic, M, Mehra, R, Coon, K, Ogden, J, Odolon, J, Obudi-Owor, A, & Oyunga, M. A. (1990). Women in agriculture: What development can do. 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